Awarded in 2019
Home Department: Bioengineering
Faculty Advisors: Michael Lin (Neurobiology and Bioengineering) and Julien Sage (Genetics and Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology)

Research Title: A Programmable System for Rewiring Aberrant Cancer Signaling to Therapeutic Effector Release

Research Description: Although we have achieved dramatic improvements in cancer treatment, current therapies are still limited by toxicity to normal cells. Xinzhi proposes a new paradigm for cancer treatment where the abnormal signals that drive tumorigenesis are specifically detected and used to trigger therapeutic responses. The Lin lab has developed a technology called RASER that specifically responds to hyperactive signaling from the protein ErbB. Xinzhi now proposes to translate RASER in vivo to ablate tumors and extend the RASER response to additional oncogenic signals. This project will thus build a completely new type of cancer therapy, in which proteins are engineered to specifically identify and destroy cancer cells with cell-to-cell precision.

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Xinzhi is a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Dr. Michael Lin at Stanford.